“Oh c’mon you sweet lil' thing, let’s go out back and have some fun.” The man says as he winks at me and moves his hand lower; he’s just above my ass at this point. I start to struggle and pull out of his grip but his handle on me is tight giving me no room to kick or thrash about. This man is strong.
“Greg! Can’t you find anyone your own age you dirty bastard! Leave her alone!” I hear a firm female voice behind me but Mr. Greg here holds me so tight I can’t turn to see who it is.
“Oh honey I’m not THAT old and hey, don’t be jealous you can join us if you like pumpkin.” I see Greg wink at whoever is behind me.
Then I’m pulled out of Greg’s arms and I’m looking at the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen, it’s the guy from the corner booth that I was ogling. He looks down at me with one hand on my shoulder and one hand on my cheek as he asks softly, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I'm out of breath not sure if it’s because of what just happened or because this beautiful boy has me lost for words.
I stutter. “I…I...No…I mean no… he didn’t hurt me.”
“Good.” He says looking up from me over my shoulder, his jaw tenses and I can see his eyes turn dark, glaring with so much hatred over my shoulder at Greg.
“Greg what do you think you’re doing? Did you not see that she didn’t want you to touch her?” The hot guy yells out. I flinch at the anger in his voice.
I don’t hear the rest, it’s too much to deal with at the moment. I run into the bathroom and walk over to the sink and mirror. Holding my weight on my elbows on the counter top, I put my hands over my face just trying to calm my breathing, my heart is beating fast – I can feel my hands shaking. This is too much, especially after not feeling anything for so long. I have only been here for a few days and I can already feel the walls I’ve kept built up these past few years crumbling. What is this place doing to me?
I keep thinking, why did I freeze? Growing up at the gym, I did kick boxing and a few self-defense classes. I should’ve yelled or something but I just froze, I’m so weak.
I hear the door open and shut, I hear yelling outside –the arguments obviously still going on, I can’t see who came in because my hands are still over my face as I try to blank out any thought and calm my erratic breathing. I’m still leaning over the counter when I hear footsteps in my direction and then a soft hand starts rubbing my back gently. I recognize the voice as the girl who told Greg to leave me alone.
“Are you okay? You wanna talk about it? He tried the same thing with a couple other girls, he won’t try with me though because he knows my pops will fuck him up if he tried to…” she trails off. I stand up and see the girl from the table I was looking at across the bar. The one with the piercings and has the whole emo look going on. She sits on the counter by the other sink and I smile at her.
“Thanks ...you know…for helping out there.” I say pointing back to the door.
“I should’ve yelled or something, I don't know why I just froze like that… that dude scared me shitless!” I say letting out a breath.
“No worries, I totally understand, I probably would’ve done the same thing.” she laughs. “I’m Veronica by the way, you’re not from around here are you?" she says, she looks at me, raises her brows as if examining me over and puts her hand out to shake mine. “I'm Lexi, just moved here with my mom from up North.”
“Oh yes, your mothers best friends with my aunt. You’ve met Amber yet? She’s quite silly isn’t she? She acts like my sister though it’s funny sometimes, other times…not so much.” She says.
“Don’t get me started on my mother, she drives me crazy! She has to take me to enroll in school on Friday, I'm dreading it – she’s determined to go with me even though I told her it’s not necessary, she wants to check out the talent the high school offers in the boy department.” I say wiggling my eyebrows up and down.
We both burst out laughing, I sit on the other counter and we share stories about my mother and her aunt. Our eyes are watering we’re laughing so hard, it feels so good, because I haven't laughed like that in a real long time.
“Oh shit.” I say glancing at my phone. “We’ve been in here a while, I got to get my mom home before the table dancing and undressing starts.” Jumping off the counter onto my feet I say,
“…and believe me, it’s not a pretty sight.” I laugh and she joins in. “It was nice meeting you Veronica, I’m sure I’ll see you around.”